environment + technology

Three Low-Tech Ways to Help Save the Planet

In Silicon Valley, technological innovation tends to focus on creating knock-your-socks off products like Apple’s (APPL) iPhone or some cool new Google (GOOG) mashup. Much the same is true in green tech, where a host of companies are working on advanced solar, biofuel and hydrogen technologies. But as Green Wombat’s holiday sojourn in Australia comes to a close, I’m surrounded by examples of low-tech solutions to pressing environmental problems – a reminder that there’s plenty of opportunity in the green tech boom to develop innovative but simple technology. Take three common Australian
technologies used in my friends Susi and Andrew’s home on the New South Wales coast, about four hours north of Sydney. We’ll start up with the humble power outlet (or power point, as the Aussie’s say.) We all know that our homes are increasingly filled with gadgets that remain on standby when plugged in, sucking electricity even when not in use. In Australia, every power outlet has a little button that cuts off the electricity when the outlet isn’t active. It’s a reflexive habit here to vanquish so-called vampire power by pressing a button. You can’t get more low-tech than a clothes line but the widespread use of them to dry clothes saves untold kilowatts of energy. You’ll find a clothes line in the backyard of just about every abode, from suburban tract homes to $3 million beach palaces. Dryers tend to be tiny, used mainly in winter. Australia’s climate encourages line drying but there’s also no negative cultural connotation as there is in the U.S., where people seem to associate the practice with poverty. Lastly, Susi and and Andrew have installed a rainwater tank behind their
garage. Most of the rainfall in their coastal area
goes straight into the Pacific Ocean but the tank collects runoff from their roof that can be used to water their garden and lawn. With a further investment, rainwater could be used to flush the toilets, wash clothes or even provide drinking water. Imagine the opportunity for some startup to come up with rainwater tank technology for use in urban but dry areas of the U.S.

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2 Responses

Todd – YES! I’ve been pining for these switches in the United States. Have you seen any? Of course, we have the safety switches on some outlets, but it’s a tiny little red button, and not really meant for routinely cutting power. If you’ve any leads on this, let me know. Oh, I hate TypeKey, by the way. . . aargh!

I haven’t seen these in the U.S. though I’m sure there’s probably some add-on switch that can be bought. The real solution, it seems to me, would be to make such switches part of the LEEDS green building standards.

About Green Wombat

Green Wombat is written by
Todd Woody, a veteran environmental journalist based in California who writes for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Grist and Yale e360. He's one of the few people on the planet who have held a northern hairy-nosed wombat in the wild.

Todd formerly was a senior editor at Fortune magazine, an assistant managing editor at Business 2.0 magazine and the business editor of the San Jose Mercury News.